Mining apparatus



M. P. HOLMES MINING APPARATUS Aug. 17, 1926. 1,596,435

Filed Oct. 22 1921 F g- Z Patented Aug. 17, 1926.

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MOR'BJIS 'P. HOLMES, 0F CLAREMQN'T, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR ,TO SULLIVANIMAGIIINERY COMPANY, A (IGRPQRATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

MINING APPARATUS.

Application filed October 22, 1921.

My invention relates tomining apparatus.

It has for its object to provide andmproved mining machine and moreespec ally an improved mining machine especially adapted to operate onpitching seams. A further object of my invention is to provide animproved means adapted to be'applied to a standard mining machinewhereby such a machine may be controlled in its movement up a pitch andwhereby the pulling out of a jack or .the like, which would otherwiseresult in the machine sliding .down the pitch with resultant injury to.the operator and damage to the machine and props, is rendered harmless.These and other advanof .my improved construction will, however,hereinafter .more fully appear.

In .the accompanying drawings I have.

shown for purposes of illustration two forms which my invention mayassume in practice. 7

In these drawings Fig. 1 is a plan View of .a mining machine constructedin accordance. with .one'torm of my invention, the machine being shownin cutting position adjacent a face.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the form of the construction shown inFig. l, the machine being shown moving .up a pitch.

Fig. 3 is aidetail view partially in section of the ares land 2.

Fig. a is a detail sectional View on line ll of Fig. 3. p

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 3 and showing.amodified construction of controlling mechanism.

In these illustrative embodiments I have shown a standard vform ofmining machine which, while the invention is not limited thereto, isot'the longwall type including a usual machine casing 1 carrying at oneend thereof a pivotally mounted cutter bar 2 adapted to be laterallydisposed .to undercut a face as theopposite .end of the machine is movedin advance thereof along the face nuder the action of a .feed operatingmember .3 controlled by a usualzcontrol mechanism ineluding a member tand propelling .the .machme along a .fiexible teedmg memberb, the feedoperating member herein being shown .in the form of a .feed sprocketmember and thejflexible .teeding member in the .torm of achaimalt'ioughiit will be evicontrolling mechanism shown in Fig- SerialNo. 509,694.

dent that any other form of propulsion means may be used. It will alsobe understood that the cutter mechanism and the feed operating memberare driven from a motor (not shown) carriedinthe machine casing andoperatively connected to these elements in a usual manner.

In my improved construction illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a safetymember, herein in the form of a flexible member or cable 6 is disposedbetween the machine and the props when the machine is at the face, oneend of the fiexiblemember being connected at the top of the pitch andthe other at the bottom to suitable abutments of such strength as toenable the entire weight -of the machine to be placed upon the member 6should the abutment or jack to which the flexible feeding member 5.isconnected, be pulled out, or the flexible feeding. member break. Inpreferred form of my invention this cable 6 is disposed at such a heightabove the bottom as to bea'bove the free end of the flexible feedingmember which is fed out on the prop s'ide oi the machinefby the feedoperating lmember, the same preferab'ly also being disposed at such a-"height as to bring it substantially in theplaneloi the machinecontrolling mechanism, herein typilied by the member 4. As shown, themember 6 also extends through a suitable clamp 8 at the prop side of thefront end ojf them'achine, which is carried on a bracket 9 in suchamanner as to project slightly later-ally I ber 8, however, normallybeing projected into contact with the cable-thy means of springs 16seated in apertures 17 in the member13 and acting between that memberand the flange 14. :Operatively associated with the flange 14. is also ahorizontally disposed controlling member 18 pivoted at 19 at a pointadjacent one of its ends on a vertical pivot on the irontendofthe-menih'er 9 and having on its outer end andpre'ferably adjacent.the pivot, spaced extensions en gageable with the outside surface of theflange 1 f.

As a result of my improved construction it will be observed that whenthe machine is moving up a pitch, the parts occupy the positionillustrated in Fig. 3, the spring pressed member 8 being projected intoclamp releasing position by the friction on the cable 6 so that themachine may move freely relative to the cable 6 and along the member 5.When, however, the machine starts down the pitch, as for instance whenthe jack for the flexible feeding member 5 pulls out, the friction ofthe clamp on the cable causes the member 8 to move longitudinally in itsbore 12 and thereby to clamp the machine to the safety cable 6. Further,it will be noted that whenever the operator for any reason desires tomove the machine down the pitch, this is readily accomplished by simplyreleasing the member 18 and letting the machine slip as desired underthe constant control of that member.

In Figure 5 I have illustrated a modified form of the constructionhereinabove described Where it will be noted that the clamping membergenerally indicated at 8 in that figure is formed of a plurality ofparts 21 and 22, one of which, 21, is connected through a suitabletoggle mechanism to the member 9, herein through a plurality of togglelinks 23 pivoted in that member and the member 9, while the other, 22,is normally projected into clamping position by suitable resilientmeans, herein in the form of a plurality of coiled springs 24 seated inan extension 25 on the member 9. In this construction extensions 26 arealso provided on the member 21 and engaged by the spaced extensions 20on the member 18. The operation of this construction will evidently bethe same in principle as that of the preceding construction, friction onthe cable 6 acting automatically to apply and release the clamp, Whilethe operator may lower the machine down the pitch under control of thecontrol member.

Through the use of my improved construction it is found possible tooperate with entire safety upon pitching seams of as high as 55 degreeswherein safe operation of the machine has heretofore been thoughtimpossible due to the risk to the lives of the operators below themachine and the damage to the machine and props which would result fromthe pulling out of the upper jack for the flexible feed member or thebreaking of the latter. Further, it will be noted that the controlmember is conveniently located so that an operator operating the usualcontrol member 4 of the machine may readily also operate the controlmember 18. Attention is also directed to the fact that my improvedmechanism may be very cheaply produced and applied to a standard machinewithout change in the latter machine and at a very small expense whilethe safety mechanism itself is of a rugged character well adapted towithstand long service.

While I have in this application specifically described two forms whichmy in'ven. t-ion may assume in practice, it will be understood thatthese forms of the same are shown for purposes of illustration and thatthe invention may be modified and embodied in other forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a mining apparatus, a mining machine including feeding means, astationary member relative to which said machine is movable, means forfrictionally engaging said member automatically upon movement of saidmachine in one direction, and means for releasing said engaging meansduring such movement.

In a mining apparatus, a mining machine including feeding means, astationary member reiative to which said machine is movable duringfeeding, and ating with said stationary member in controlling machinemovement comprising means normally gripping said member butautomatically released on feedingmovement, and means for releasing saidgripping means on movement in a direction opposite such feedingmovement.

3. The combination with a mining machine having a feeding means, of acable element and a cable gripping element, one of said elements beingstationary and the other connected to said machine for movementtherewith and said cable gripping element comprising means permittingfree relative movement during normal machine feeding but automaticallyoperative to check relative movement in a reverse direction.

4:. The combination with a mining machine having feeding means, of acable element and a cable gripping element, one of said elements beingstationary and the other connected to said machine for movementtherewith and'said cable gripping element comprising meanspermittingfree relative movement during normal machine feeding but automaticallyoperative to check relative movement in a reverse direction, and meansoperativeat will to cause said last mentioned means to permit freeopposite relative movement.

5. In a mining apparatus, a flexibly fed mining machine slidable on itsbottom on a mine bottom and having a projecting cutter bar, a safetymember, and means whereby said machine is'connected thereto upon arearward movement of said machine.

6. In a mining apparatus, a flexibly fed mining machine slidable on itsbottom on a means COOPQY- I mine bottom and having a projecting cutterbar, a safety member, and normally operative manually releasable meansfor connecting said mining machine to said member upon machine movement.

7. In a mining apparatus, a mining machine having a projecting cutterbar, feeding means connected to said machine to feed the same along aface, a safety cable, and clamping means connected to said machine andmovable along said cable including normally operative cable grippingelements.

8. In a mining apparatus, a mining machine having a projecting cutterbar, feeding means connected to said machine to feed the same along aface, a safety cable, and clamping means carried on said machine andmovable along said cable and including normally operative cable grippingelements releasable by an operator.

9. In a mining apparatus, a mining machine movable along a face andhaving a projecting cutter bar, a safety cable disposed parallel to theface, cable clamping means on said machine comprising a gripping memberand means normally holding said member in contact with said cable, and acontrol member controlling said gripping member.

10. In a mining apparatus, a flexibly fed mining machine including aprojecting cutter bar, a safety cable disposed parallel with the paththereof, and clamping means on said machine engageable With said cableand including a toggle connected member and a cooperating spring pressedmember and a controlling member controlling the movement of one of saidmembers.

11. In a mining apparatus, a flexibly fed mining machine including aprojecting cutfor bar, a safety cable disposed parallel With the paththereof, and clamping means on said machine engageable With said cableand including a toggle connected member and a cooperating spring pressedmember and a controlling member controlling the movement of said toggleconnected member.

12. In a mining apparatus, a flexibly fed mining machine slidable on itsbottom on a mine bottom and having a projecting cutter bar, a safetymember in the form of a flexible member extending substantially parallelto the path of machine movement, and means connected to said machine andengaging and moving freely along said flexible member during forwardmachine movement operative upon a rearward movement of said machine toconnect the latter to said flexible member in a manner to precludesubstantial rearward movement. v

In testimony whereof I afflx my si nature.

MORRIS r. HoLiiEs.

